NeighborWorks® America's Sustainable Business Initiative helps community-based NeighborWorks organizations strengthen their foundations and grow revenue. In 2024, the SBI provide seed grants to seven network organizations with promising earned revenue strategies. Over the next few weeks, as part of Small Business Month, NeighborWorks will highlight some of those outcomes.
Founded in 1997 as an affiliate of Asian Americans for Equality, Renaissance Economic Development Corp. has long supported small businesses in New York City that were excluded from traditional financing. As a federally certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Renaissance (REDC) is part of a national network of mission-driven lenders that fill critical gaps left by mainstream banks, bringing flexible, affordable capital to small business owners and communities that traditional lenders have often overlooked.
With rising commercial and housing costs pushing entrepreneurs out of Manhattan and the Lower East Side, REDC identified growing unmet demand in nearby regions with limited access to affordable capital and culturally competent business advice.
Meeting the Need
Market research identified strong demand for responsible lending and multi-language business support in Long Island, the Mid-Hudson Valley, and northern New Jersey – communities experiencing both small-business growth and financial vulnerability. Many entrepreneurs faced costly online lending products and limited technical assistance, making it difficult to stabilize or scale their operations.
To ensure continued access to capital for immigrant and minority business owners, REDC set out to bring its trusted model closer to the communities where entrepreneurs now live and work.
The organization developed a growth plan to expand its impact while building long-term sustainability. The strategy focused on strengthening earned revenue through increased lending volume outside New York City, with a goal of 30% of the organization’s total loans coming from these new markets within three years.
The plan called for deeper regional outreach through partnerships with networks that could reliably connect REDC with entrepreneurs facing barriers to affordable financing. It also recognized that success would depend on the kind of support REDC is known for: multilingual technical assistance in English, Chinese and Spanish that helps business owners navigate the loan process and improve financial resilience.
“I don't know if many people really think about branding and marketing and name recognition when they think of nonprofits, but for us, it's really important to put our name out there as trusted partners,” said REDC Managing Director Jessie Lee. “We see marketing and development as an investment. If you don't invest in these areas, you're not going to get additional funding, because people don't know you.”
To reach entrepreneurs who may not yet be connected to service providers, REDC identified the need to expand visibility through ethnic media and regional partners. Internally, the organization began preparing for growth by upgrading its accounting system to support higher transaction volumes and a broader funding base.
With a strong strategy in place, REDC needed flexible capital to put the plan into action through staffing capacity, outreach resources and market presence to accelerate entry into new communities and create a foundation for sustained earned-revenue growth. NeighborWorks® America’s Sustainable Business Initiative was able to help with a $75,000 seed grant — a capital investment that allowed the organization to launch and scale an earned revenue strategy that would built long-term sustainability.
“The seven organizations that received the seed grants had all demonstrated strong potential for sustainable business growth,” said Alicia McCoy, interim vice president, National Homeownership Programs and Lending. “With the help of the grants, they met that potential.”
REDC Development Manager Glenn Davis explained that his organization was trying to meet people where they are. “Now that we have grown, we have the capacity to do it, but we're still going to need some initial help in building up the operation. The SBI grant was a fit to help that expansion.”
The $75,000 SBI seed grant provided the capital REDC needed to move its expansion plan from the concept phase into the community. With this investment, REDC was able to staff up with bilingual business development and counseling capacity, ensuring entrepreneurs could receive one-on-one support in English, Chinese and Spanish as they explored responsible financing options. The funding also allowed the organization to launch targeted outreach through media and digital channels, an essential step in reaching business owners who might never have considered a CDFI.
SBI seed capital helped REDC establish a service presence in New Jersey and suburban New York, building trust and visibility in areas where immigrant entrepreneurs had limited access to affordable funding. As a result, the organization quickly began serving clients who were either shut out of traditional lending or burdened by high-cost online products.
Within just the first year of implementation, the results affirmed the strategy. REDC reached more than 300 clients and provided approximately $2.8 million in loans across its expansion markets, exceeding its multi-year performance goals well ahead of schedule. More importantly, small businesses gained stable, responsible financing that supports growth without predatory risk.
Continuing the Impact
REDC is deepening its local pipelines through expanded community partnerships, lender training, and small business advising focused on improving repayment performance and strengthening long-term sustainability. As the organization grows, it continues to generate stable local jobs, support intergenerational wealth building, and reinforce small business ecosystems beyond New York City.
The team also plans to extend its impact through digital education. Since the downsizing of Small Business Development Centers across the state, entrepreneurs have had limited access to training and technical assistance. In partnership with Leadflow, a consultant team of digital marketing specialists, REDC is enhancing its own digital strategy while providing marketing education and webinars to small business owners in New Jersey. By helping small business owners build their digital presence, REDC aims to ensure they can access, manage and sustain capital more effectively.
Said Lee: “Capital really changes people's lives overnight and opens a door for a lot of people."
Read all of our seed grant case studies.
